Decoder with Nilay Patel

Breaking free from big tech and big content with authors Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin

Jan 10, 2023

Cory Doctorow, a prolific author and tech advisor, joins Rebecca Giblin, a law professor and publishing house founder, for an engaging discussion on issues facing artists in today's digital landscape. They explore the barriers created by big tech companies and how these impact fair compensation for creators. The conversation covers the struggles of independent authors, the challenges of digital rights management, and the monopolistic practices in the music industry. Together, they propose actionable solutions for a more equitable creative economy.

01:30:20

Episode guests

Rebecca Giblin

Cory Doctorow

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

AudibleGate: How Audible Took Advantage Of Its Authors

04:12

How Big Players Converge Or Collude to Rig The Market

02:58

The Moral Case for Socialism

01:20

The Napster Wars

01:06

Intro

3min

The Creator Economy Under Siege

12min

The Challenges of DRM and Consumer Experience in Digital Content

4min

Uncovering Wage Theft: The Struggle of Independent Authors Against Big Tech

3min

Monopolies and Music: Challenges in the Streaming Era

27min

Navigating Streaming Economics and Transparency

7min

Reassessing Blockchain and Copyright in Creative Industries

30min

Last year I spoke with Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin about their new book, Chokepoint Capitalism. It’s a book about artists and technology and platforms, and how different kinds of distribution and creations tools create chokepoints for different companies to capture value that might otherwise go to artists and creators.. In other words, it’s a lot of Decoder stuff.

As we were prepping this episode, the Decoder team realized it previews a lot of things we’re going to talk about in 2023: antitrust law. Ticketmaster. Spotify and the future of the music industry. Amazon and the book industry. And, of course, being a creator trying to make a living on all these platforms.

This episode is longer than normal, but it was a really great conversation and I'm glad we are sharing it with you.

Links:

What is Mixer, Ninja’s new exclusive streaming home?

Ninja returns to Twitch

This was Sony Music's contract with Spotify

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/23311918

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan.

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